Subs, Salads, Sushi -- oh my!

GOOD NEWS!! This past week, my neutrophils went up to 7600!! HIGHER THAN WHEN I STARTED TREATMENT. This meant that I could indulge in all the fresh/raw vegetables and undercooked meat I wanted. The doctor also said that I could rub someone else's snot on my face, but I stuck with lettuce on my sandwich instead. This is a HUGE small victory for me. I went from eating tons of vegetables to my only vegetables being french fries, and while everyone can justify a couple potatoes in some french fries, I'm kind of over it. (GASP!)

My very first shred of lettuce since treatment started :) Thank you Jimmy Johns for delivering so fast! 

Anyways, so this week has been pretty good. I got to skip my doses of Neupogen on Friday and today, and wait to see what this week's blood work says. (cross your fingers...) My hemoglobin level is still 8.5 which is really low -- meaning I'm still anemic -- but the doctor said that as long as it stays above 8, and I'm not incapacitated they probably won't do anything. If it drops lower, I could need to take ANOTHER shot called Procrit (i think) which is basically the same as the neupogen but for hemoglobin.

On another note, when I went to get my blood work drawn this past week, the phlebotomist asked if i was alive because he couldn't find any veins. They stuck me....not once, not TWICE but FIVE times...twice in the same vein. Needless to say, they couldn't draw enough blood so I had to go back on Wednesday morning. I worked really hard Tuesday night to drink loads of water, so the blood came out easy-peasy on Wednesday morning.

I also got a festive care package this week from Aunt Patty -- yummmmgobblegobbleyummm -- 

Turkey Cookies!

My mom got here friday and she's been dutifully taking care of me and helping get my life reassembled. I don't have enough energy to file papers and stuff so the medical paraphernalia is piling up! This Thanksgiving will be atypical with very small dishes of a bunch of different things because I'm not sure what I'll like to eat.

Anyways, that's it for this week...cross your fingers all my counts stay the same.

It's great to be on Week 8!!

It feels good to be 2/3 of the way done with the first half of treatment! It's been a tumultuous ride so far, but there seems to be a method to the madness.

This week I found out that my ANC (neutrophils/white blood count) didn't go up (still 588) from the Neupogen last week, so now I have to be on a regimen  of MWF neupogen shots. In addition to my Thursday night Interferon, I'll admit, this blows. Not to mention, my Hemoglobin dropped below 9, so now I'm severely neutropenic and anemic...fun.

2 weeks worth of Neupogen. jealous?!

The doctor said that we'll watch the hemoglobin to see if it goes up this week, and if not, I might need to reduce dosage of the Ribavirin. I'm not particularly sure of the implications of dosage reduction this far into the treatment, so we'll see. I also might need some iron supplements or something.

So basically I feel like I just ran up two flights of stairs anytime I move. (ex: when I get up from a chair, lay down in bed, bend over to pick something up, cough, etc.) And my heart's generally racing at all other times too, not to mention I feel like I've been hit by a bus at least 85% of the time.

My interferon shots have been hurting more, and I cant really explain why, except that maybe there's a higher concentration of interferon in my leg there since I've given 8 shots (4 in each leg). They sting now, and they didn't used to do that.

The Neupogen shots have been going in my stomach. They aren't that bad, except the needle is a lot bigger. There's a lot less involved with the Neupogen  since it's already assembled and there's not all the clicking and stuff that I have to do for the Interferon redi-pen.

The third Neupogen shot was better than the 1st but worse than the 2nd. I think the bone pain is directly proportionate to how tired I am when I give the shot. This week, I accidentally forgot to take aleve when I gave the Interferon Thursday night, so I felt like hell on Friday for the Neupogen...I know, I got too cocky because I was so excited to be on Week 8!

In terms of eating, I was kind of nauseous today, but this has been the first day in a long time. I'm still doing the smoothies in the morning, and various assortments of french fries, pizza, grilled cheese, etc. throughout the day for my 20g of fat. ONLY FIVE MORE WEEKS OF INCIVEK!! WOOO!!

Other than all that, this week has been pretty smooth. I'd appreciate a break every now and then from the Hep C gods, but apparently this week wasn't it. I go to the Dr for my Wk 8 checkup on Thursday, and bloodwork on Tuesday.

Thanks for all your thoughts/prayers/good vibes! Mom's coming on Friday!

All's good on the homefront

So sorry I didn't post last week, but my week was pretty much a nonevent in terms of the health things...which is a good event! Aunt Mary Beth came to visit last weekend and we had a grand ol' time touring Austin and shopping/eating around various parts of the city. She really wanted to try food from a trailer.

Aunt Mary Beth at Hey Cupcake! with her Halloween cupcake

She also made me loads of delicious soup which I've been eating since the cold front has moved in! Speaking of cold, the winter weather has spurred lots of shopping in Lindsey and I, so we've been getting packages in the mail daily -- though she's still waiting for her new fancy iPhone 4s! 

Some of the arriving packages have been pills, which as exciting as that seems, is just not. I have one more shot this month and then I have to go through the special pharmacy debacle which last month consisted of -- the pills not arriving on time, the pills arriving almost 48 hours late at like 930pm, the ice pack having exploded in the cooler and covering all the outrageously expensive prescriptions in icepack gel, and all the pills sitting in water/gel substance -- surprisingly, nothing was damaged and the pills have been functioning normally. Since then, CVS Specialty pharmacy has been delivering my other meds, they seem to be doing a MUCH better job than the other pharmacy (except for the picture below)

Last time I checked, a 90 day prescription shouldn't come in 90 different bottles! 

I had to take the Neupogen this past week, though not the week before...so I'm curious to see if it's going to be an every other week thing. This past week my ANC level was the lowest it's been at 561 -- 500 is when I move to "severe neutropenia", so I really hope it doesn't drop much lower. I took the Neupogen at night this time, and it proved to be MUCH better/easier/less painful. 

My regular interferon shot was more painful and left a little bruise, so I think I might have hit a blood vessel or vein or something...not sure about that. 

I've probably eaten McDonalds about 15 times in the past two weeks (pretty much once a day, but some days twice). I've also come to terms with the fact that everything tastes weird, so mostly foods with very distinctive tastes taste the best -- so I made chili and green chile cornbread to accompany my extra salty french fries! 

Oh! also this week I experienced something new. I burned my mouth eating some hushpuppies last weekend, I think. Because I'm neutropenic, my mouth proceeded to heal in slow-motion. It got all these white scabby things where it got burned, then peeled off everywhere, then had some soft pink tissue and is now back to normal -- but it took like four or five days! I can honestly say in my 24 and a half years of life, I've never had my skin in my mouth peel off quite life that. 

Other than that, everything's been pretty good. I've taken lots of naps and tried to sleep as much as possible because that proves to make things much better for me. I also spent a bunch of money stocking my pill box back up with all the OTC drugs that complement my delivery/designer drugs! 

That's it for this week!

Thanks so much Talleys and Coopers for the care packages :) Lindsey, Bean and I have been eating like queens with all the goodies that are either made for us or sent to us! (and we're still taking donations!)

Mom's coming back out to Austin for turkey day so that should be fun! 

Until next week!